The federal government has
ordered electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to adopt electronic
platforms for the payment of energy bills across the country.
The Nigerian Electricity
Regulatory Commission (NERC) said the move is to reduce the aggregate
technical, commercial and collection losses the DisCos are battling with.
The commission asked the DisCos
to leverage on available banking channels approved by the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) to ensure prudence in the utilisation of market funds.
While the power firms have till
January 31 to migrate industrial and commercial customers to their cashless
electronic platforms, they have till March 31 to move residential customers to
pay their bills only on the platforms.
“The Federal Government issued a
policy directive that requires the mandatory transition of certain classes of
end-use customers of DisCos from direct cash settlement of bills to cashless
settlement platforms in order to reduce collection leakages/losses and improve
overall revenue assurance in NESI,” NERC said.
“The Commission notes that this
policy directive complies with EPSRA and the laws of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria as furthers the objective of improving transparency in NESI by
introducing greater clarity on collections from end-use customers and prudence
in the utilization of market funds.
“Without prejudice to the
provisions of section 10 of the Cash Collection Regulation”; all DisCos shall
transit to cashless settlement platforms for the billing/collection of R3 class
of residential customers by 31 March 2020.
“Provide customers with
appropriate bank account details and other approved channels for
receiving/processing payments such as mobile money, electronic wallets etc.
“All DisCos shall ensure full
accountability of energy flow with the installation of appropriate metering
infrastructure that is integrated with the CMS of all industrial, commercial
and R3 class of residential customers by 31 December 2020.”
The commission also asked the
DisCos to publish details of customer service/contact centers to promptly
address electronic payment enquiries along with stipulated timelines for
addressing customer complaints.
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